List of references to Ultraman in popular culture
As Ultraman is a beloved franchise in Japan and around the world, many pop culture references and parodies have been made about the series. This list exists to showcase all of them. Manga & Anime Dragon Ball *In the original series, Chi-Chi had a helmet that was equipped with a bladed boomerang and she could fire an energy beam from it. This is an intentional parody reference to Ultraseven's Eye Slugger and Emerium beam attacks. *In Dragon Ball Super (and further in the manga of the person's nam''e''), Jaco the Galactic Patrolman was introduced, who bears a striking resemblance to Ultraman himself. Neon Genesis Evangelion Series creator Hideaki Anno is a longtime fan of the Ultra series and several references to Ultraman have been made in the franchise. In Evangelion 2.0, a circle with Glyphs from the infamous crucifixion scene of Ultraman Ace is seen and several Adams appear that have Color Timer-like holes in their chests with another having one on its forehead like Ultraseven. Patlabor In the 15th Episode of the New Files OVA series, "The Woman Who Came from the Stars", the Patlabor force is seemingly re-imagined as an anti-kaiju defense force called CLAT (a parody of MAT and the Ultra Garrison). The entire episode is a parody of a typical Ultraman episode with multiple references to the franchise, with the climax being Noa changing into "Ingraman" to stop a Zetton-like monster, which homages/parodies the final episode of the original Ultraman show. It turns out the entire thing was all just a dream of Asuma Shinohara's while he was fast asleep in the hospital. Cartoons Ben 10 *One of Ben Tennyson's forms is "Way Big," a To'kustar alien who can fire cosmic rays from his arms. His appearance is a reference to the original Ultraman and the species name is a play on Ultraman being a "star" of toku''satsu. Evolved To'kustars have color patterns on their bodies that resemble Ultraman Tiga Multi Type. Also, like the original Ultraman, Way Big fires cosmic beams of energy by doing an "L" shaped arm pose like Ultraman does with his signature attack The Specium Ray. **In the Ben 10: Ultimate Alien 2-part series finale "''The Ultimate Enemy," Ben 10's Way Big takes on a more powerful form of itself known as "Ultimate Way Big" to battle Diagon. Ultimate Way Big's appearance resembles that of Ultraman Mebius's Phoenix Form, as well as hints of Ultraman Taro's design. Additionally during their fight, Ultimate Way Big makes a pose that's identical to that of Ultraman's infamous transformation sequence. The Simpsons For the couch gag of the holiday episode "Tis the Fifteenth Season", the couch is on a sidewalk in Tokyo, Japan and the Simpsons family arrive as popular Japanese characters. Among the characters, Homer was Ultraman and turned the TV on with his Specium Ray. South Park In the episode "Mecha Streisand", after celebrity Barbara Streisand transforms into a Mechagodzilla-esque monster to terrorize the titular town, she is confronted by other celebrities who transform into monsters as well to fight her off. Actor Leonard Maltin transforms into an Ultraman-inspired form. Ironically, Maltin's Ultraman form bears a striking resemblance to Ultraman Zearth, despite the episode being created before Zearth's existence. This most likely is merely a coincidence. Live Action Shows Aoi Honoo Aoi Honoo is a drama based on a manga by Kazuhiko Shimamoto, which in turn is based on the completely fictionalized accounts of his college life during the 1980s. One of the characters of the show is a mildly exaggerated version of Hideaki Anno, whom the main character Moryuu Honoo has a rivalry with. Anno is depicted as an eccentric tokusatsu otaku who wears a Color Timer on his clothes and references various episodes of shows and movies he watched, including Ultraman. When he feels a lack of motivation to work or feels tired, he mimics the slow and heavy fall of an Ultraman with the Color Timer sound effect punctuating it. At one point, he wears an Ultraman t-shirt while working on a school assignment. Super Sentai While part of a competing franchise created by rival studio Toei, the Super Sentai series has made the occasional reference to Ultraman. Akibaranger Goseiger Ninninger Kamen Rider *During one of the comedic non-canon web episodes to promote the crossover film Super Hero Taisen Z, the Kamen Riders find out that Tackle has been cheating on Kamen Rider Stronger and dating Alien Baltan. While Baltan was never shown (mostly due to copyright reasons), his laugh, silhouette and shadow were seen as well as a blurred picture of him with Tackle.